Twenty four hours
by capitol grasshopper
Summary: As to say goodbye… he'll have about twenty four hours to get accustomed to the idea. He survived a spear through the heart, he can do that too, he thinks.


_AN: I started this after a line in episode 3 and kept adding to it and changing things to fit canon as far as we know in episode 8... so we all know it'll be totally AU soon enough!_

 _This is unbetaed (!) I'm posting now out of frustration I guess XD_ _Have mercy_

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In the end it's just a flash of light and then… time starts speeding up again and they're back. At the diner. Like nothing ever happened. If it weren't for the dust and the grime, the new scars and the different clothes on their back. And the season. It's the edge of summer now, when the days are warming but the nights are still crisp.

They all stand there dumbfounded, uncertain about feeling happy to be back or shocked by the gruesome future they know is coming, looking at each other with the tentative tendrils of hope entwined around their heart that at least for them that life is finally over.

Except it's not the end. Not at all. It's just another beginning: to save Earth from being quaked apart now.

And what to do and how to do it with the military still on their tracks are questions already gnawing at their calves, rooting them on the spot.

So, in the golden lights of a setting sun, Phil Coulson takes a brave step and sends them off: "We've all earned a night in our own bed," he says, and only Melinda May can recognize the echo of her own words. "For those of you still up for this, see you here in twenty four hours."

He has little doubt Fitzsimmons will be there, Daisy too, of course. Yoyo would drag a grumbling Mack back, probably. And May… May earned her peace long ago. She deserves it. Most of all, she needs it. He wouldn't hold it against her if she decided she had enough of a life on the line. And knowing that if they do, in fact, change the future they witnessed, they'd also be erasing her time as Robin's mother in the Lighthouse, makes her opting out even more understandable. She needs to allow herself time to grieve what could have been. She owes him nothing and he owes her… at least this.

But for now she disappears with a nod, Fitz and Simmons slip away silently, still holding onto one another, and Mack and Yoyo follow them, whispering between themselves.

Only Daisy lingers.

"My bed got caught in the fire at the base, so..." she trails off. Much like his and the rest of what was left of his possessions, Coulson mourns. _They_ don't have a bed of their own anymore. He must look pained because the girl quickly adds. "I was gonna check on Gabe Reyes anyway, as I promised his brother… some time ago. Better now than- well... _never_."

He nods his understanding, receives a playful punch to the shoulder as gracefully as he can without looking startled and smiles back when she enquires.

"I have somewhere I need to be," he admits vaguely. He really doesn't, but he'll think of something and doesn't need the pity anyway.

He leaves her at the bus stop and walks the rest of the way back to the hangar, his pace picking up with each step he gets closer to the idea forming in his head. They could burn his base to the ground, chop off his hand, dismantle his organization, trap him in a mind game or send him to a nihilistic future, but he's always found his way back to her, eventually.

It's already dark when he gets there and only if he squints in the shadows he can make out Lola's red body, faintly shining against the full moon. It's a constant of his life. A comfort he's not ready to deprive himself of, now more than ever. Not when he's losing Melinda May again and he can't keep track of the mess her LMD left in his heart.

He almost hears her taunting: _you're getting sappy in your old days, Phil._

Where to go, though? Not that it matters. He'll just… drive.

He opens the doors wider and there she is, waiting silent and perfectly still, sitting in the passenger seat.

Coulson tilts his head in question. He hadn't known he'd come there till he started walking after leaving Daisy, how would _she_ know? Then again, she knows him better than most. Is he _that_ predictable? _For a spy, Phil, you're really slipping_ …

Melinda May just stares back at him, slightly pursing her lips as to hurry him out of his puzzlement.

"Uh..." _Oh, very articulate, Phil!_ "You need a lift?"

She nods and her eyes follow him till he slips next to her behind the wheel with a certainty he doesn't feel. They both buckle up and he starts the engine, pressing the gas to make Lola purr that known, comforting tune before putting it in gear.

"Where to?" he asks. He has a vague idea of where her mother still lives, Lola could take them there in less than two hours maybe. She'd finally be in her own bed before midnight. He can do that for her… He can drive her home safely. Or maybe she wants to see Robin now, process her loss... They can track her down, find where Polly and her daughter are, sit down for a difficult talk... As to say goodbye… he'll have about twenty four hours to get accustomed to the idea. He survived a spear through the heart, he can do that too, he thinks.

Dying was way too easy the first time.

Melinda May looks straight ahead, to the deserted suburban street, the moon and the sky above the dark treeline, and there's really nothing there, but the sight is riveting, somehow. His heart sinks. She has the confident look of someone who made up her mind once and for all. A decision for which she can't look him in the eyes. He just can't find any consolation knowing that it probably pains her as much.

"Wherever you go," she answers.

Coulson takes a second to process it but then his brow furrows and his jaw slacks as he squints back at her perfectly still profile. "You… You planned this!"

"Of course," she admits, making a show of _not_ rolling her eyes. He thinks it's a trick of the moonlight, but when he turns the headlights on a faint blush is coloring her cheeks.

"How?" He shifts in his seat to face her, eager to spot the subtle curve of the corner of her lips when he adds: "How did a nerd like me land a girl as cool as you?"

"You do have a flying car," she points out as if it's obvious.

"Yeah but you didn't know that till _after_ the 084 mission in Russia." He had a terrible haircut and a Captain America patch pinned to his SHIELD issued backpack the first time they'd met at the Academy. She'd already made a name for herself then: beautiful, smart, top of her class at Operations… things hadn't changed much by the time he was a level 4 agent on a solo mission and she was a level 3 specialist watching his defenseless ass.

"I guess you were cute then," she concedes with a smirk, knowing too well what _really_ earned her attention had nothing to do with cars or a boyish charm.

Lola slides out the hangar and into the road, stretching her muscles and testing her gears before Coulson asks her to fly. They drive old style for a bit, in complete silence, the moon ghosting on the window pane and the wind rustling their hair.

May slides down in her seat to loll her head back and watch the stars peeking up above when he takes off. She even shifts closer with a hint of amusement when he lands in the middle of a drive-in theater as Cary Grant ducks out of the way of a crop duster plane on the big screen. She goes as far as stealing his share of chicken nuggets, comfortably nestled against his side, head propped on his outstretched arm, looking absolutely innocent while at it.

He cherishes this newfound intimacy she so reluctantly is allowing herself again. She dozes off before the end credits roll, lips curved in the faintest of smiles. It's the most relaxed he's seen her in years and he's terrified to break the spell.

They only have twenty hours left in a bubble before the grim reality of what is at stake catches up again. And if Melinda May is willing to spend them with him, Phil Coulson is going to treasure every precious second with her.

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 _AN2: I'm toying with the idea of adding a nsfw chapter but since it's far from written I'll leave it alone for now_


End file.
